With the arrival of autumn, a lot of conferences and congresses are launched with topics of interest for oncologists. I will stop at a few that are more affordable and of greater interest to oncologists in Romania.
The ESMO Congress will take place between the 15th and the 23rd of September. Of course, it will be much more difficult to follow, as it lacks the possibility for direct participation which allows participants to feel the atmosphere or the impact of new research results in various locations of cancer.
The ESMO 2020 virtual conference will present promising new developments aimed at improving the care of cancer patients. In response to current needs, the scientific program will include a dedicated COVID-19 section and a pathway for cancer research section.
We welcome the decision of the ESMO management to facilitate free participation. The program is very complex, as ESMO used to do.
Another scientific event that we are now talking about in the past is “Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Oncology”, the title under which took place The Medical and Scientific Days of the “Prof. Dr. Alexandru Trestioreanu” Institute of Oncology Bucharest (IOB). Although the title of the scientific conference organized by the Bucharest Institute of Oncology leads us to believe that the interdisciplinary approach of patients represents the future, we can assure readers that this type of approach has been applied since the time of the late Professor Trestioreanu, who gives the name of this institute.
One last scientific event I want to refer to is The National Congress of Oncology. In the end, I believe that this scientific manifesto will be of a very good quality, considering the participation of some teachers from Romania, and it is also possible to obtain the quality of a conference under the auspices of ESMO. There are micro-courses that are interesting for young doctors and also instructive reviews. The original works are fewer, but considering the conditions of the research activity, this is justified.
The only regret is that the National Society of Medical Oncology (SNOMR) has “dissolved” in the competition with other companies and the contribution of young people brought to the Steering Committee was not so beneficial, because there weren’t many innovative ideas, these doctors having a short experience in organizing congresses and in running a society, but I hope this will be an experience we will all learn from. I believe that if we do not say things “by name” we will never progress.
In the end, I think that all medical oncologists in Romania must thank the organizers of this congress which required sustained efforts.